It sounds kind of like driving over a bridge with seams, if you were underwater

Today we went for our second prenatal appointment and here's a video of us listening to the baby's heartbeat. It takes a minute for them to find the heartbeat and if you listen you can hear Dr. Golden tell us, "It sounds like it's a boy or a girl." Thanks Dr. Golden, that clears a lot of things up. We weren't sure if baby would be turned right to hear a heartbeat this time but it was so strong. We saw the baby last week and now we have heard him/her! I wanted to grab the speaker and yell, "Hey baby! I love you!" but I know that's not how the Doppler machine works. Everything else checked out fine at the appointment, so that's definitely a praise! This time the heartbeat was 181 beats per minute and I haven't had caffeine in two days so I didn't tamper with it this time! Next appointment is set for February 11.

I'm still feeling pretty good and Paul is being such a sweetheart to me and olive (that's how big the baby is now). Last night he made his first ice cream run for me! I'm starting to notice a little bit of hardness in my tummy too! My pants aren't wanting to button all the way but I'm definitely way to early for maternity clothes but my mom has bought me some great in-between stuff.

Please continue to pray for our home loan that it will be approved and move swiftly so we can get into our new house in Tallassee!

That little grey smudge disappearing and reappearing is one of the best things I've ever seen...

Last Thursday Paul and I got the very great joy of seeing our baby for the first time!! I was working at Women's Hope and when we had a little free time the nurse offered to do one for me. They are great at early ultrasounds, but at only eight weeks and two days I wasn't sure if we'd be able to see anything. But pretty quickly that little human-shaped peanut popped up on the screen. That was my first relief seeing that the baby is all settled in the correct place and then seeing the heartbeat really set my mind at ease. I am nine weeks today so I know that things could still happen but so far everything looks good. Baby is measuring a little small but when I get a 12 week ultrasound we'll know better if my due date needs to be moved. Heart rate = 170 beats per minute

After seeing the baby last week we've been a little freer with telling people our good news so feel free to share it also if you like. We won't know if it's a boy or girl until the end of March and the decision to find out or not is still up in the air. At first I wanted to know, then I thought it would be a good surprise, but now I'm thinking again that I can't wait. So at least I have about two months to decide! Opinions?

I've gotten my morning sickness under control pretty well by changing my eating habits and I'm not nearly as tired as I was a few weeks ago. We have a second prenatal appointment on this Friday and now my biggest fear is that I've already gained too much weight! I've got to remember that the second person I'm eating for isn't exactly a full grown person (or even a mostly grown person for that matter). Please continue to pray for our home loan, we hope to hear a final decision this week for the mortgage company.

So, she's said she's tired a couple times...

Well, just to give you an idea about how tired Jessica is, it's 11:24am right now. She has gotten up to pee at least twice since 7am and gone back to bed both times. Eventually, she'll wake up and realize that she's hungry, but she will take an hour to eat a small amount because she "doesn't feel good" (which is a result of her not having eaten...vicious cycle, I think so). After being up for 2 or 3 hours, she'll go take a nap for an hour or so.

I've been letting her rest all she wants these last few days because between Christmas travels, a youth conference, and making up for all the cleaning we haven't done since before Christmas in her waking hours, she's developed quite a sleep debt. On top of that, she'll be returning to her preschool class tomorrow. I hope she survives...actually, I hope it snows and Auburn City Schools close so that Lakeview Preschool Adventures will also close and she can have one more day to rest. Then she can return to a small class on Friday, instead of a full class tomorrow.

I hope Daddy (speaking in the third person here) hasn't said anything above that he'll get in trouble for. I'll stop here as not to overwhelm you in my first post.

Daddy-Out!

Baby is the size of a rasberry but fruits are the last thing on my mind

From Karen I have borrowed "What to expect while you are expecting" and "Your pregnancy: week by week" and this picture is from the latter. I put my thumb in it so you can get an idea of the actual size. It's hard to believe that baby is growing so quickly. I'm still feeling pretty good, even after a three day trip with our youth to Pigeon Forge TN! I've been sick just a little but I think that's just from being tired. I don't have to go back to work until January 7 so I am excited to just rest and clean this messy house up until then. We got a call that our loan work is at the underwritter and it should take about two weeks to process and then they will let us know if we got it or not. That was on 12/28 so please be in prayer that we will get the loan for the new house so we have somewhere to put this baby! It won't stay this small forever so we've got to have more space! Plus I've heard that babies come with lots of accesories!

Grandfather needs a name

So - Jessica wants me to decide what the baby will call me. I didn't know I needed to make decisions like this. I didn't know I got a vote, but I am glad that I do. I can only imagine some of the stuff they could come up with.

Lisa (Grandmother) already has her name picked out. They are calling her "Me-me" or something like that. I am trying out a couple of names. I think I like "Pop-P". It's early in the process.

We are looking forward to becoming grandparents. I hope to be able to post on this blog from time to time. I know that everyone is just waiting for "Pop-P's" wise and thoughtful comments.

Merry Christmas!

MiMi swears she is not going to buy anymore baby present for awhile but I did get three cute outfits for Christmas, including a Dr.Seuss Grinch onsie for Christmas next year! I also got this fun pregnancy calendar to keep up with what is going on. It's going to be very hard to go shopping and pass over all the adorable baby stuff for a few more months!! I was thinking that I really wanted to know if it was a boy or a girl but my parents have made a good argument for being surprised so now I'm not sure what I want to do. I guess I've still go about ten weeks to figure it out

Merry Christmas Eve

Can't wait until next year when we are tucking our little baby in for her first Christmas morning!

Our little sweet pea

Paul says their are far too many pictures of us on this blog and since I don't really have a picture of our baby yet, this will have to do!

This picture is from a book called "A Child is Born" that my mom gave me. I have seen these images many times before at Women's Hope, but it is so surreal to think that that tiny baby is actually inside of me. The baby in the picture is five weeks old and is about the size of a apple seed. I am now six weeks and my baby is a little bigger, the size of a pea! Though still called an embryo at this point, my baby is really looking like a cute little infant with arms, legs, a head, and torso. Also my baby has a beating heart, lungs, kidneys, and a liver. We went to the OB last week and everything is going well. We got to see two pink lines again (darker this time!) and they drew lots of blood for testing. I will go back again on January 15 to hopefully hear sweet pea's beautiful heartbeat! In general I feel fine though very tired. I pray the Lord will continue to keep me healthy and Paul too because he is being so sweet and a big help. It has been so fun to be at home with my family celebrating at this time and having my mommy here to help me know what to expect.

Belly pictures to come, Ginny!

Making the Big Announcement

Whew! It's so nice now that our families know. I managed to keep it quiet for a while (though not all the way until Christmas). Last week Mommy, Gran, Dottie, and Sam came to Auburn and at lunch I gave them all a Christmas card with their new title (Grandmother, Two Great-grandmothers, and Aunt respectively). They were surprised and excited and I was so excited to be able to tell them. Actually Samantha already knew since I had talked to her on the phone the day I found out and she twisted it out of me by saying "hello". She's the only one to cry so far. Yesterday when we came to Birmingham for Christmas we were able to tell Paul's family and they were also super excited, though his mom claims that she "knew" we were going to tell. They say moms do have a way or knowing things. Maybe I'll get that special gift soon. Today I told my sweet former roommates at lunch and my dad's family at dinner. Apparently we like to be at a meal to tell people. Maybe we figure they won't make a scene if we are at a restaurant! No, everyone has been very supportive and glad which is good because this is the only Christmas present everyone is getting this year. And we think our little sweet pea is definitely a good enough gift!

Two Pink Lines

Friday morning I really wanted to go ahead and take the test and Paul sleepily agreed. Two lines! The second one was very faint but definitely there! I am so excited but as a first time mom I am also very nervous. So many questions and thoughts run through my head that I can't pause long to think about one until I am on to the next. As far as symptoms go, I feel okay. I'm a little sick to my stomach but that may just be the excitement. I've spent the better part of the day plotting how I will tell my parents. It is so close to Christmas I'd love to surprise them then but I'm not the best secret keeper. I want to tell them soon but I also want to tell them face to face so I'll have to wait a bit! For right now I just have to remember to keep taking deep breathes and with each breath a prayer to the Lord. I want to begin lifting up my baby even now and placing her in God's good hands. May His will be done in all three of our lives!